What is the nature of leadership?

Management 9/e - Chapter 13 2

What is the nature of leadership?

What are the important leadership traits

and behaviors?

What are the contingency theories of

leadership?

What are some current issues in

leadership development?

Role of management is to promote stability

or to enable the organization to run

smoothly.

Role of leadership is to promote adaptive

or useful changes.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 13-3


Leadership.

The process of inspiring others to work hard to

accomplish important tasks.

Process of influencing others to understand

and agree on what needs to be done and

how to do it; and

Process of facilitating individual and

collective efforts to accomplish shared

objectives

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Power.

Ability to get someone else to do something you want

done or make things happen the way you want.

Power should be used to influence and control

others for the common good rather seeking to

exercise control for personal satisfaction.

Two sources of managerial power:

Position power.

Personal power.

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Visionary leadership.

Vision

A future that one hopes to create or achieve

in order to improve upon the present state of

affairs.

Visionary leadership

A leader who brings to the situation a clear

and compelling sense of the future as well as

an understanding of the actions needed to

get there successfully.


Meeting the challenges of visionary

leadership:

Challenge the process.

Show enthusiasm.

Help others to act.

Set the example.

Celebrate achievements.


Servant leadership

Commitment to serving others.

Followers more important than leader.

“Other centered” not “self-centered”.

Power not a “zero-sum” quantity.

Focuses on empowerment, not power.


Servant Leadership and empowerment.

Empowerment.

The process through which managers enable and help

others to gain power and achieve influence.

Effective leaders empower others by providing them

with:

Information.

Responsibility.

Authority.

Trust.

Trait theories of leadership

Assume that personality traits play a central

role in differentiating between leaders and

non-leaders, or in predicting leader or

organizational outcomes.

Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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Traits that are important for leadership success:

Drive

Self-confidence

Creativity

Cognitive ability

Business knowledge

Motivation

Flexibility

Honesty and integrity

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Task concerns › Plans and defines

work to be done.

› Assigns task responsibilities.

› Sets clear work standards.

› Urges task completion.

› Monitors performance results.

People concerns

› Acts warm and

supportive toward

followers.

› Develops social

rapport with followers.

› Respects the feelings

of followers.

› Is sensitive to

followers’ needs.

› Shows trust in

followers.


Classic leadership styles: Autocratic style.

Emphasizes task over people, keeps authority and information within the leader’s tight control, and acts in a unilateral command-and-control fashion.

Laissez-faire style.

Shows little concern for task, lets the group make decisions, and acts with a “do the best you can and don’t bother me” attitude.

Democratic style.

Committed to task and people, getting things done while sharing information, encouraging participation in decision making, and helping people develop skills and competencies.

Behavioral theories

Assumes that leadership is central to

performance and other outcomes.

Focuses on leader behaviors rather than

traits.


Situational Contingency Leadership

The effects of leader traits and behaviors are

enhanced by their relevance to situational

contingencies.


Fiedler’s contingency model

Situational control

The extent to which a leader can determine

what his or her group is going to do, as well as

the outcomes of the group’s actions and

decisions.


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Fiedler’s Situation Control Variables

Leader /Member Relations

(good/poor):

Members support for leader.

Task Structure (high/low):

Spells out leader’s task goals and

procedures.

Position Power (strong/weak):

Leader’s task expertise, and

reward/punishment

authority

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Fiedler’s model requires a match on

several parameters before leader’s

effectiveness can be predicted.

Good relations between the leader and the

members, AND

A highly structured the job, AND

Strong position power


Hersey and Blanchard Situational

Leadership Theory

Diagnose demands of the situation

Assess Readiness

The extent to which the follower has the ability

and willingness to complete a task.

Implement appropriate leadership response.


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House’s path-goal theory of leadership

Assumes that a leader’s key function is to

adjust his or her behaviors to complement

situational contingencies.




When to use House’s leadership styles: Use directive leadership when job

assignments are ambiguous.

Use supportive leadership when worker self-confidence is low.

Use participative leadership when performance incentives are poor.

Use achievement-oriented leadership when task challenge is insufficient.


Superleaders.

› Persons whose vision and strength of

personality have an extraordinary impact

on others.

Charismatic leaders.

› Develop special leader-follower

relationships and inspire others in

extraordinary ways.

Charismatic leaders

Leaders who, by force of their personal

abilities, are capable of having a profound

and extraordinary effect on followers.


Transactional leadership

Involves leader-follower exchanges necessary for

achieving routine performance that is agreed

upon by leaders and followers.

•Uses contingent rewards to motivate followers.

•Identifies what must be done to accomplish the

desired results.

•Uses corrective action only when goals not met.

•Laissez faire style – avoids making decisions.


Transformational leadership

Leaders broaden and elevate followers’

interests, generate awareness and acceptance

of the group’s mission, and stir followers to look

beyond self-interests.


Dimensions of transformational leadership

Charisma

Inspiration

Intellectual stimulation

Individualized consideration

Empowerment

Integrity



Drucker’s “old-fashioned” leadership.

Leadership is more than charisma; it is

“good old-fashioned” hard work.

Essentials of “old-fashioned” leadership:

Defining and establishing a sense of

mission.

Accepting leadership as a “responsibility”

rather than a rank.

Earning and keeping the trust of others.

“Great leaders are almost always great

simplifiers, who can cut through argument,

debate and doubt, to offer a solution everybody

can understand.”

- Colin Powell


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What is the nature of leadership?